Seattle Grizzly and US Revolution rover, Zach Johns, has joined the West Australian Football League's Claremont Tigers for their preseason training. The WAFL is the highest minor league below the AFL. Both the West Coast Eagles and the Fremantle Dockers place their reserves in the WAFL.

Johns pictured with Claremont Head Coach Simon "Macker" McPhee.

Johns hopes work hard over the summer and make it onto Claremont's senior list. Johns follows in the footsteps of James and Jarod Brunmeier who worked out with the WAFL's West Perth Falcons in 2007. James Brunmeier played every game with West Perth's Reserves in 2007 kicking 5 goals. Brunmeier has given great advice to Johns as he prepares for his footy adventure. "I was lucky enough to get in touch with James Brunmeier. I think I tired him out with my multiple emails filled with many questions. He was helpful and gave me the rundown of what training was like and what the competition was like. He also gave me some suggestions on living in Perth and actually recommended playing for Claremont which was funny because I had no idea at that point where I was going to end up."

The opportunity to work out with Claremont developed after Johns and a teammate gave the WA Football Commission's Dale Ballantyne a ride from Portland to Seattle so that Ballantyne could umpire the game between Portland and Seattle back in 2008. Ballantyne was in the US to attend the USFooty National Championship tournament and announce a partnership between USFooty and the WA Country Football. Ballantyne tried talking Johns and his teammate into coming to WA to play for one of their country clubs. While Johns was excited by the opportunity the timing didn't work out. After talking more with Ballantyne who played for the Tigers from '89 to '95 and USFooty's Tony Fairhead, the opportunity to do preseaon with Claremont arose. "It was an exciting opportunity to play at a high level. I did not want to spend another winter in the Pacific Northwest banging nails as a home builder."

While preseason is known for its long runs and heavy concentration on fitness, for Johns there is skill work to be done. "I'm kicking after practice every day. I practice my drop at home a bit with a few techniques I was taught by Rob Wiley and other coaches on my team. As for feedback from coaches, come to think of it, Coach Macker said my skills looked good at training on Wednesday. I feel like I'm getting a lot of attention from the coaching staff. They are offering extra coaching to me and I have been jumping on the opportunities."

Johns is hopeful of being able to make the list by the start of the season. "Even with the questions I asked Tony, James, Dale, and my teammates in Seattle about the WAFL I had little expectations or knowledge of what the abilities of the other guys were going to be and my chances of making the reserves or senior team. I figured I would be able to have that question answered after a few days of training, but it hasn't been answered yet. I feel like I can compete with these guys. We haven't played any full speed games as of yet. We do conditioning and then various skill drills under extreme fatigue. I figured guys would be precision kickers and most are, but there are kicks missing targets and hitting the deck while doing our drills. So there is a bit of pressure taken off of me because my kicks aren't dialed in yet. The coaches are stressing skills and fundamentals on all players which is good for me because they are coaching the basics to all of us and it is pretty much the first time for me. Although the boys in Seattle taught me a lot.

"We will be playing some live action in Jan and Feb before the actual season. I will know where I stand at that time. I don't really worry about where I will end up. I'm just trying to survive the running at the moment. I have distanced ran under clock and against other guys in a long time. I know my strength in the game lies in getting the ball when it is on the deck, tackling, and power running. Our drills don't necessarily show these abilities. It will take live action to see where everybody is which will come in the following months."

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